Bitch Media - transgenderhttp://bitchmagazine.org/taxonomy/term/9581/0
enA Conversation About Transgender Representation in Pop Culturehttp://bitchmagazine.org/post/a-conversation-about-transgender-representation-in-pop-culture
<p dir="ltr"><img src="/sites/default/files/u2583/screen_shot_2015-06-19_at_12.41.28_pm.png" alt="" width="670" height="400" /></p>
<p dir="ltr"><em>Janet Mock, on her MSNBC web show, is one of a handful of transgender people who has recently gained international visibility.</em></p>
<p dir="ltr">Recently, we’ve seen a transformation of the representation of transgender people in pop culture. Trans people are far more visible in mainstream media than they were five years ago—from Laverne Cox on <em><a href="http://bitchmagazine.org/tag/orange-is-the-new-black" target="_blank">Orange is the New Black</a></em> to <a href="http://bitchmagazine.org/post/as-jenner%E2%80%99s-story-breaks-the-internet-trans-women-of-color-discuss-their-own-narratives" target="_blank">Caitlyn Jenner on the cover of <em>Vanity Fair</em></a> to <a href="http://bitchmagazine.org/article/janet-mock-interview" target="_blank">Janet Mock anchoring her own MSNBC web show</a> to actress Jamie Clayton starring in brand-new <a href="http://bitchmagazine.org/post/watch-janet-mock-and-sense-8-star-jamie-clayton-talk-gender-and-sci-fi" target="_blank">Netflix show <em>Sense 8</em></a>. But how does having more transgender celebrities affect trans people who aren't in the spotlight?&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr">To discuss this change and what it means for the everyday lives of transgender people, <a href="http://www.equityfoundation.org/" target="_blank">Equity Foundation</a> Executive Director <a href="https://twitter.com/karolcooks" target="_blank">Karol Collymore</a> sat down for a conversation with two transgender advocates who are also pop culture consumers. Stacey Rice is Co-Executive Director of <a href="http://www.pdxqcenter.org/" target="_blank">Q Center</a>, an LGBTQ community center in Portland. She’s originally from North Carolina and identifies as a trans woman—she transitioned 15 years ago. Jayce Montgomery is a trans man who is <a href="http://portlandobserver.com/news/2014/jul/30/trans_student_denied_housing/" target="_blank">a student at George Fox University</a> in Oregon.</p>
<p dir="ltr">This conversation is part of our <a href="http://bitchmagazine.org/post/popaganda-episode-transformations" target="_blank">podcast episode "Transformations</a>." Click to listen to the discussion below or read the whole transcript.&nbsp;</p>
<p><iframe width="100%" height="166" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/210968626&amp;color=ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false"></iframe></p>
<p dir="ltr"><strong>KAROL COLLYMORE: So glad to have you all here for this conversation. I’ll just jump right in. How did pop culture influence your own life when you were thinking about your gender identity?</strong></p>
<p dir="ltr">JAYCE MONTGOMERY: I didn’t watch a lot of TV, radio or stuff like that. I remember the first time really thinking about gender was when I watched <em><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0454945/" target="_blank">She’s the Man</a></em>. It’s about a girl whose soccer team gets booted from the school. She wants to continue to play soccer and dresses as a male to attend her brother’s school and plays on the guy’s soccer team. That’s the first time I remember thinking about gender and the roles people can play.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><strong>Was it a moment when you were saying, “I wish I could do that—be Amanda Bynes in this movie?”</strong></p>
<p dir="ltr">JAYCE: Yeah. I was definitely like, “I want to do that. I wish I could be a girl and then be a boy whenever I want to.” At the time I thought, “is that possible?” Maybe it’s just simple to stick with the lesbian identity.</p>
<p dir="ltr">STACEY RICE: I was a child before the Internet era and before a lot of pop culture seeped into the consciousness of our culture today. There were barely glimpses of what maybe could be or what was. I remember one of the first times it really connected with me in a big way was back in 1972. There was a Lou Reed song that came out, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wNknGIKkoA" target="_blank">“Walk On The Wild Side.”</a> Part of the core lyrics to that song is that this particular character shaved her legs, and “he” became a “she.” And I thought, “Wait, maybe I can do this.” Outside of that, there wasn’t a lot. You just got barely glimpses here or there. I knew from five years old that something didn’t quite fit. That everyone treated me as a little boy they saw, but I felt like a little girl. I didn’t have a great way to explain that during that time period. You have three television channels. So where do you find someone who is trans and connect with them? There was a lot of time spent digging into college libraries and other places, trying to find a shred of information. To me, one of the most amazing inventions is the Internet because it helped trans people connect and see people to build community with.</p>
<p><strong>You grew up in North Carolina. Was there anybody there who you could identify with in this sort of mainstream LGBT community? To start that first step of identification?</strong></p>
<p dir="ltr">STACEY: Yes there were. There was one of my cousins who identifies as gay now. Of course, at that time it wasn’t even spoken. I could feel a kindred kinship with my cousin. This is a person that’s also not quite fitting into those little boxes that people had at that time. It kind of started expanding my horizon that there were people outside of those boxes. Maybe my box was okay. I just had to figure that out, though.</p>
<p><strong>So now that we are in 2015, there is <em>Orange is the New Black</em>. There’s now <em>Keeping Up With The Kardashians</em>—they’re going to have a spinoff for Caitlyn Jenner. How does that impact you now as you walk through the world? Do you feel like that is any reflection on you, to you, or for you? Positively, or negatively?</strong></p>
<p dir="ltr">JAYCE: I’m really excited that they’re putting more trans people [on TV] and displaying them more in the correct manner. This happened with gay individuals and lesbian individuals, always displaying them in the stereotypical way. You know, “masculine,” [or] this is the man/this is the woman role. And not really delving into their background and what they actually go through. I’m really excited to see more characters (LGBTQ and trans) that are more well-rounded, who actually get into their life and their experience as an individual.</p>
<p dir="ltr">STACEY: We really have reached a tipping point with trans issues and trans visibility. One of the things I’ve always thought the trans community has working against them is wanting to blend in. You didn’t want to be out. You wanted [this] for the safety issue, actually. What happens is, people maybe knew a trans person but they didn’t really know it. This visibility of all these amazing folks on the front pages, on the front lines, does nothing but help. It’s a huge platform that these folks have had to be able to tell a very authentic trans story to the world. It’s really going to do nothing but help us and the people that come after us. It takes a lot of that mystery away. A lot of that, “I don’t know what this really is.” It’s brilliant. I never thought I would see that in my life, actually. It’s wonderful.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><img src="/sites/default/files/u2583/laverne_cox.jpg" alt="" width="670" height="440" /></p>
<p style="padding-left: 210px;" dir="ltr"><em>Laverne Cox in her role on&nbsp;</em>Orange is the New Black<em>.</em></p>
<p dir="ltr"><strong>Jayce, talk to me about what it means when someone like Laverne Cox, who is trans and a person of color, specifically a Black person. Obviously people of color have a harder time in any category, in any walk of life. It doesn’t matter what it is, we’re going to be struggling. How is it for you and your reality? How has she helped? Or does she even help at all in your journey?</strong></p>
<p dir="ltr">JAYCE: As a trans person, especially a trans person of color, there are a lot of obstacles that go into being a person of color. Being trans on top of that, really adds a double barrier. It’s very nice to see a woman, especially an African American woman. You have the intersectionality going on. It’s nice to see her step out and really be open about herself. It encourages me to not be scared and be willing to step up. Even though I may be scared and nervous, other people are always learning, using me as an example.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><strong>Stacey, I was <a href="http://bitchmagazine.org/post/trans-women-are-women-why-do-we-have-to-keep-saying-this" target="_blank">reading a recent op-ed in the <em>New York Times</em>.</a> The author was saying she felt it was unfair that Caitlyn Jenner got to define feminism. And that she was not allowed because she just became a woman, and had been a man before. I thought, that isn’t necessarily what I understand from trans people. You just don’t get to decide at 40 or 60 that you’re suddenly a different gender. I wanted to know your thoughts on that, in regards to your femininity, or lack thereof, however you choose to define yourself.</strong></p>
<p dir="ltr">STACEY: That conversation is really raging in feminist circles and the trans community as well. There is part of me that understands feminists who grew up in the 50, 60s, and 70s, and where they’re coming from. I was in that era, too. I understood exactly what that patriarchy was. We had made a lot of changes in that time. That’s been their lived experience. What has to happen now is we all have to evolve. We all have to get to a different place because this world is changing. Ideas are changing, people are changing. It was an interesting op-ed to read. I knew before five that I was really female. Of course, there was no way to accomplish that. Sure, I’ve lived through 40 years in my male life and that has had certain privileges. I do understand that. I would be hard-pressed to say that my experience as a woman is a different experience. I think there are things a lot of genetically-born cis women experience that no one else will, sure. I think it’s an evolution. We have to evolve on this. It’s a very touchy, very fraught with lots of issues kind of conversation. We’ve been having some of those conversations at Q Center with feminists and trans women saying, “This is who we are. These are things we do/don’t have in common”. It bothers me the stridency I see in some of the comments. But we need to get beyond that. It’s funny because when you look the younger generation, this is not really an issue to them. So that shows an evolution. It’s going to continue to evolve. It’s going to be fine moving forward.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><strong>Jayce, how did your friends react when you told them you are a man?</strong></p>
<p dir="ltr">JAYCE: My friends reacted pretty well. They already kind of knew. I was the typical butch lesbian dressed like a guy. When I came out it wasn’t that big of a surprise. They only struggled with the correct pronouns. Luckily, it was an easy-go. I’m very fortunate for that.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><strong>That’s an amazing generational change, for sure. Back to the idea of “What is Feminism/What is Masculinity.” There was a trans man from Eugene who <a href="http://www.npr.org/2015/04/19/400826487/transgender-man-leads-mens-health-cover-model-contest" target="_blank">entered the contest to be on <em>Men’s Health</em> magazine.</a> He’s ripped. I thought, especially with Caitlyn Jenner on the cover of <em>Vanity Fair</em>, is there now going to be pressure for folks who are trans to fit into the conventional beauty standards that we’ve created?</strong></p>
<p dir="ltr">STACEY: &nbsp;That’s a good question. It was fascinating to realize that I all of a sudden felt those pressures. I was tall. I was puzzled to think that I had to feel that pressure. At least for myself, you have to come to the realization that you can only be who you are. This is the package, this is who you are, and you make the most of that. I think it would be a mistake if people saw those two folks and assumed that would be the norm for the community. It would be a mistake if people assume, when they saw those two folks, that is the norm for the trans community. The trans community is diverse. However, we need to have those people who out there at the front.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><img src="/sites/default/files/u2583/mh-umhg-aydian2.jpg" alt="" width="670" height="428" /></p>
<p style="padding-left: 120px;" dir="ltr"><em>Aydian Dowling in his aspiring-cover-model photoshoot for </em><a href="http://www.menshealth.com/best-life/aydian-dowling-mens-health-guy" target="_blank">Men's Health</a><em>.</em></p>
<p dir="ltr"><strong>Jayce, you’re sporty. You love the sports. Did that cover give you pressure? Did it make you excited?</strong></p>
<p dir="ltr">JAYCE: It makes me excited, but it would be dumb for me to say that I don’t succumb to society’s gender roles. I definitely do. Being able to shift from male to female, you’re able to see how boxed things are. You’re actually able to see how much you play into that yourself.</p>
<p><strong>Tell me more about that, your role as a man.</strong></p>
<p dir="ltr">JAYCE: I’ve always been very assertive. You know, as a woman you’re not supposed to do that. You’re supposed to sit back and let the males do what they’re going to do. I’ve always had a problem with that. Transitioning to male, there are a lot of social pressures from friends. I don’t think they mean to push people in a certain way. But it’s the comments that they make. The conversations are very sexual. Stuff like that. The most important thing being aware that we all play into those stereotypes. Being able to say, “Yes I did that and how can I change that? How can I do that better next time?” That’s important.</p>
<p dir="ltr">STACEY: What a unique journey to actually experience life on both sides. I look at that as a blessing, that you can see things from two different—very binary—areas. I never forget the time after I transitioned and worked in an office. A manager came over to me and said, “Honey, let me show you how to use that computer. You might not know what it is.” I was like, “Okay here we go.” I always knew that existed. That really is there. That’s part of life.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><strong>Have either of you, because of your identification, been harassed, assaulted, or felt like you were physically in danger?</strong></p>
<p dir="ltr">JAYCE: Personally, not really, except online. That always happens, behind the screen, people are always going to say bad stuff. I’ve been really lucky. A lot of the anxiety comes from knowing the violence that can happen to trans people. And that people in my school know about my identity, people that I didn’t want to tell but know because of the media. Being afraid to walk home because I’m small. It’s kind of a more indirect fear that society produces for trans people. That can be really debilitating and binding and scary.</p>
<p dir="ltr">STACEY: Makes perfect sense. That’s a beautiful point. I felt the exact same thing. I’ve had a couple of minor issues. I worked a lot of retail after I transitioned. A couple people would make remarks that they knew I was trans, and they weren’t very nice. I’m worried more because of the violence against trans folks and that there’s so many trans people in this world who are murdered. I’m always aware of where I am and what I’m doing. It was challenging in the South. I moved to Portland three years ago, and it’s easier here. I was always very cognizant that if I was rolling in the countryside and need to go in somewhere in the middle of nowhere, maybe into a little grocery store or something, I was always a little worried. There’s always the potential violence hanging over us. It’s real. It’s very real.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><strong>Is there anything you think we don’t cover when we talk about issues of trans people? We have fair representation—we have Janet Mock on MSNBC, which is only online. Hopefully we’ll get her on the TV. But, what do you think we are missing? Cis people and straight people. What should we be talking about?</strong></p>
<p dir="ltr">STACEY: There’s a multitude of issues that fall under this. Ninety-nine point nine percent of the trans folks’ experience is so different than Janet, Caitlyn, and Laverne Cox. A great study came out a couple years ago on transgender issues. 10,000 trans folks filled out that survey. It is stunning to see those numbers, a super high percentage of trans people who have been homeless or fired from their jobs. The list goes on. This are the reality for trans people. There is nothing more heartbreaking than someone to come to Q Center who is homeless, and we really have no place for them to go. We have <a href="http://right2dreamtoo.blogspot.com/">Right 2 Dream Too</a>, and they accept trans folks. That happens more often than people realize, that people show up here like that. We have a ton of issues to start focusing on.</p>
<p dir="ltr">JAYCE: There are still a lot of issues with legislation and law. One thing I’ve been looking at is the intersection between masculinity and trans people. A lot of times we focus on the LGBTQ community, but we also need to focus on things outside of it and how it’s affecting the trans community. Basically, masculinity is the rejection of anything that is seen as feminine. That plays a really large role in how the trans community and LGBT community is treated because gay/lesbian/transgender people are defying and challenging patriarchy. If we look at masculinity and how we are raising our young boys, that they can be emotional, we would see a huge release on the LGBT community, trying to look at those outside circles and how they intersect.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><strong>Would you hope for more portrayals in pop culture of all folks of the LGBTQ spectrum to be more human? What’s interesting about <em>Orange is the New Black</em> is, yes it’s a women’s prison, but there seems to be the spectrum of at least L, Q and T a little more human. Is that becoming something we want? Maybe not just in a women’s prison, but also a café like on <em>Friends</em>?</strong></p>
<p dir="ltr">STACEY: That’s a beautiful description, also great example. I think we have to have these tipping points happen first before we have those diverse portrayals. Yeah, we’re not turning back now. It’s going to just go from here. We’re going to continue seeing more and more and more.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><img src="http://bitchmagazine.org/sites/default/files/u2583/jeffrey-tambor-in-transparent-1.jpg" alt="" width="670" height="440" /></p>
<p style="padding-left: 240px;" dir="ltr"><em>Jeffrey Tambor in </em>Transparent<em>.</em></p>
<p dir="ltr"><strong>Do you hope or aspire that trans characters will be portrayed by actual trans people? There was the issue of <em>Dallas Buyer’s Club</em> where Jared Leto was playing a trans woman, and Jeffrey Tambor was playing a trans woman in <em>Transparent</em>. How does that make you feel? Are you just elated to see representation on screen? Or are you thinking that there is a stable of actors who don’t work?</strong></p>
<p dir="ltr">JAYCE: I think it’s great that trans people are playing on screen. It’s like race, being able to see Black people out there doing their thing. I also think it’s great that people who are not trans to play those characters. It gives people who are cis or straight a look into the experience of that character. As a cis/straight person they are able to take that experience and educate. People of the majority have a large influence because they hold the power. I think both are good.</p>
<p dir="ltr">STACEY: Me as well. It’s very important for folks &nbsp;who are not trans to be sensitive of what they’re doing. That’s been my sense, that maybe the two you mentioned were cognizant of that. They didn’t go off on, “This is my idea of what a trans person should be.” They actually maybe had people working with them who could talk about that experience. It will come to a day when there are lots of trans folks able to play those parts. It is lovely to see someone who is transgender on the screen being that part. I think it’s going to change. It’s not going to be this way.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><strong>I want to say thank you to both of you for participating in this conversation. Is there anything you would like to say before we wrap it up?</strong></p>
<p>STACEY: Thank you, Karol for moderating this and putting it together for Bitch Magazine.</p>
<p dir="ltr">JAYCE: Thank you it’s been a great experience, every time. I love working with you.</p>
<p><em>Related Reading: <a href="http://bitchmagazine.org/post/as-jenner%E2%80%99s-story-breaks-the-internet-trans-women-of-color-discuss-their-own-narratives" target="_blank">As Jenner's Story Breaks the Internet, Trans Women of Color Discuss Their Own Narratives.</a></em></p>
<p><em>This conversation was transcribed by Xatherin Gonzalez, who is a writer, an editorial intern at Bitch, a recent Portland transplant, and 305 ‘til she dies. Find links to them on <a href="http://xatherin.tumblr.com">Tumblr</a>.</em></p>
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http://bitchmagazine.org/post/a-conversation-about-transgender-representation-in-pop-culture#commentsLGBTQtransgenderSocial CommentaryFri, 19 Jun 2015 19:35:52 +0000Sarah Mirk32192 at http://bitchmagazine.orgWatch Janet Mock and "Sense 8" Star Jamie Clayton Talk Gender and Sci-Fihttp://bitchmagazine.org/post/watch-janet-mock-and-sense-8-star-jamie-clayton-talk-gender-and-sci-fi
<p class="p1"><img src="/sites/default/files/u2583/sense8.jpg" alt="" width="670" height="440" /></p>
<p class="p1"><em><span style="color: #333333;">In </span></em><span style="color: #333333;">Sense 8</span><em><span style="color: #333333;">,&nbsp;</span>Jamie Clayton&nbsp;and&nbsp;Freema Agyeman<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif;">&nbsp;play a couple named Nomi and Amanita.</span></em></p>
<p class="p1">New Netflix show <em>Sense 8</em> is a thriller about eight strangers whose lives become intertwined. The show explicity aims to deal with issues that many sci-fi shows skim over, like racial and gender politics. It includes a character who’s all too rare onscreen: a transgender woman played by an actress who is a transgender woman. One of the show’s writers and creators, <em>Cloud Atlas </em>and <em>The Matrix</em> co-writer Lana Wachowki, is also transgender.&nbsp;</p>
<p class="p1">In this recent interview with Janet Mock, actress Jamie Clayton says when she found out about the show featuring transgender hacker and activist Nomi Marks, she emailed her agent immediately saying she wanted to be involved—a whole year before they actually started casting on the show. &nbsp;</p>
<p class="p1">“When you got this role, were you like, ‘Oh my god, I get to step into these historical shoes?’” asks Mock. &nbsp;</p>
<p class="p1">“I try not to think of it in terms that are that big because I don’t want to psyched myself out,” replies Clayton. “But Lana, being trans, writing her first trans character and then me being brought on to play that and using my experience and what I’ve gone through… being able to put all of that in one big pot together and serve that up onscreen, people are eating that up.” &nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p class="p1">Watch their whole interview below.&nbsp;</p>
<p><iframe src='http://player.theplatform.com/p/7wvmTC/MSNBCEmbeddedOffSite?guid=n_shift_pop_A150612_640609' height='500' width='635' scrolling='no' border='no' ></iframe></p>
<p><em>Related Reading: <a href="http://bitchmagazine.org/post/five-black-sci-fi-writers-you-should-know" target="_blank">Five Black Sci-Fi Writers You Should Know.</a></em></p>
<p><em>Note: This post has been updated to correct an error. The post originally said Jamie emailed the Wachowskis after finding out about the show—in reality, she emailed her agent. Apologies for the error.&nbsp;</em></p>
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http://bitchmagazine.org/post/watch-janet-mock-and-sense-8-star-jamie-clayton-talk-gender-and-sci-fi#commentsjanet mockLGBTQscience fictiontransgenderTVWed, 17 Jun 2015 16:47:11 +0000Sarah Mirk32166 at http://bitchmagazine.orgTrans Women Are Women. Why Do We Have to Keep Saying This?http://bitchmagazine.org/post/trans-women-are-women-why-do-we-have-to-keep-saying-this
<p><img src="/sites/default/files/u2583/caitlyn-jenner.jpg" alt="" width="670" height="404" /></p>
<p><em>Caitlin Jenner posing on the cover of </em>Vanity Fair<em>.&nbsp;</em></p>
<p>This Sunday, the <em>New York Times</em> ran an op-ed by feminist filmmaker and journalist Elinor Burkett, titled <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/07/opinion/sunday/what-makes-a-woman.html?mabReward=A6&amp;action=click&amp;pgtype=Homepage&amp;region=CColumn&amp;module=Recommendation&amp;src=rechp&amp;WT.nav=RecEngine" target="_blank">"What Makes a Woman?"</a>&nbsp;The piece voices Burkett's manifold complaints with the trans equality movement, focusing specifically on the ways <a href="http://bitchmagazine.org/post/as-jenner%E2%80%99s-story-breaks-the-internet-trans-women-of-color-discuss-their-own-narratives" target="_blank">trans women like Caitlyn Jenner</a> express femininity and the manner in which trans visibility redefines the term "woman."&nbsp;</p>
<p>For trans women, Burkett's arguments are, sadly, nothing new. But with the recent explosion of trans visibility in mainstream culture, it feels important to offer a response.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Second-wave feminist thought was largely "trans exclusionary," meaning its members often expressed a refusal to see trans women as women. In the 1970s and 1980s, <a href="http://transgriot.blogspot.com/2012/09/gloria-steinem-transphobe.html" target="_blank">Gloria Steinem</a>, <a href="http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2015/01/28/germaine-greer-i-dont-believe-in-transphobia/" target="_blank">Germaine Greer</a>, <a href="http://bitchmagazine.org/post/the-long-history-of-transgender-exclusion-from-feminism" target="_blank">Janice Raymond</a>,&nbsp;and others held that trans women were aberrant and did not belong in the women's movement. Since then, some prominent feminists—<a href="http://www.advocate.com/commentary/2013/10/02/op-ed-working-together-over-time">including Steinem</a>—have publicly changed their stances after hearing from trans people. But at the time, the main argument against recognizing the identities of trans women was two-fold and sometimes contradictory: Being a woman is a cultural experience and therefore only belongs to people raised from birth as girls, as cis women are.&nbsp;At the same time, the argument goes, trans women who would present as women using the trappings of traditional femininity—like dresses or Jenner’s sexy corset—were holding back the movement's goal to get rid of the idea that being a woman required being traditionally feminine.</p>
<p>With cultural acceptance for the trans community rising, women such as Burkett—cis women accustomed to defining womanhood on their own terms—find themselves befuddled and aggrieved by notions of womanhood becoming even broader. &nbsp;</p>
<p>Burkett argues that “people who haven’t lived their whole lives as women” shouldn’t get to define what being a woman means. She writes:</p>
<blockquote><p>"They haven’t traveled through the world as women and been shaped by all that this entails. They haven’t suffered through business meetings with men talking to their breasts or woken up after sex terrified they’d forgotten to take their birth control pills the day before. They haven’t had to cope with the onset of their periods in the middle of a crowded subway, the humiliation of discovering that their male work partners’ checks were far larger than theirs, or the fear of being too weak to ward off rapists.”</p></blockquote>
<p>This is classic transphobia: a cis person believing their gender identity allows them to define "true" gender identities. It’s saying: I have a uterus, and—despite you and all of your forms of hard-won legal ID saying you're female—I make the rules. &nbsp;As Burkett notes, though, the rules have changed. And she's upset by it.</p>
<p>Another trope among second-wave feminists' right to exclude trans women is the notion of residual "male privilege." Burkett employs that in her article, as well. Shortly after offering menstruation as the true mark of womanhood, she shifts gears and argues for acculturation. "Ms. Jenner’s experience included a hefty dose of male privilege few women could possibly imagine," she writes, citing Jenner's athletic success, earning potential, and safety while walking at night as evidence. &nbsp;</p>
<p>To someone who saw trans women as men and had no understanding of—or empathy for—trans experiences, this might sound persuasive. However, this is not how trans women experience their forced misgendering. For many, many trans people, it is not all high wages and safe walks home at night. Instead, trans people face high rates of assault and can <a href="https://www.aclu.org/map/non-discrimination-laws-state-state-information-map" target="_blank">legally be fired for their gender identity</a> in most states. In <a href="http://abc.go.com/shows/2020/listing/2015-04/24-bruce-jenner-the-interview" target="_blank">her interview with Diane Sawyer</a>, Caitlyn Jenner offered an achingly honest account of the dysphoria and isolation she suffered as a closeted trans girl and woman, one with which I could identify.&nbsp;</p>
<p><img src="/sites/default/files/u2583/trans_discrimination.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="687" /></p>
<p style="padding-left: 60px;"><em>Statistics from the <a href="http://www.thetaskforce.org/static_html/downloads/reports/reports/ntds_summary.pdf" target="_blank">National Transgender Discrimination Survey</a>. Graphic by Bitch Media.</em></p>
<p>For me, the experience of being forcibly acculturated male involved my gender being misassigned at birth, years before it actually emerged. When I asserted my identity at the age of three, I was bullied and harassed until I disavowed it, learning to police my behavior and eliminate any femininity from my expression. I entered a world as a child that contained zero trans representation. Like a character in some dystopic novel, my identity was a frightening, shameful secret, and puberty was a confusing trauma.&nbsp;Any privilege I might have accrued feels well mitigated by the terror and self-loathing that defined my early life.</p>
<p>The idea of trans women's theoretical "male privilege" becomes even more distasteful when one considers trans women like <a href="http://www.out.com/news-opinion/2014/03/04/islan-nettles-trans-woman-nyc" target="_blank">Islan Nettles</a>, and those like her, who are murdered simply because of her gender identity, or <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/US/leelah-alcorn-transgender-teens-reported-suicide-note-makes/story?id=27912326" target="_blank">trans feminine youth like Leelah Alcorn</a>, who take their lives because they can't imagine a future for themselves in a transmisogynist world.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Because women like Burkett do not see trans women as women, they tend to view our gender expressions to be mockeries of womanhood. Though they've worked throughout their lives to free women from sexist scrutiny, they freely scrutinize and ridicule the appearance of women like Caitlyn Jenner.&nbsp;</p>
<p>With derision, she describes Jenner's appearance in <em>Vanity Fair</em>, cataloging her "cleavage-boosting corset, sultry poses, (and) thick mascara." Were anyone to critique a cis woman this way, one imagines Burkett would take umbrage. Likewise, were one to extrapolate from a few photos that this was the subject's "idea of a woman," as Burkett does here with Jenner, one would think any feminist would take offense.&nbsp; Burkett seems to see trans women as interlopers or squatters in the land of femaledom. In a particularly offensive passage, she likens a trans woman to a young man who dies his skin and "crochets his hair into twists" and "expects to be embraced by the black community."&nbsp;</p>
<p>The clear theme of Burkett's article is that she does not wish to see gender redefined from the way she and her generation would have it set. In the article's second half, she offers a lengthy recitation of what might be called "occasions in which trans activists have argued for inclusive language," a list familiar&nbsp;to readers of <a href="http://www.thenation.com/article/178140/feminisms-toxic-twitter-wars" target="_blank">Michelle Goldberg’s</a> <a href="http://bitchmagazine.org/post/terf-war-the-new-yorkers-one-sided-article-undermines-transgender-identity" target="_blank">articles on the issue</a>. In observing recent requests by queer and trans people and their allies that abortion not be defined by vaginas, that<em> The Vagina Monologues</em> not be performed because of it's exclusionary of trans identities, and that the term "sisterhood" be replaced by "siblinghood" at women's colleges, Burkett detects the definition of woman changing in a way that she thinks is misguided.</p>
<p>On the one hand, one can sympathize with how she feels, given that she and her cohorts worked hard to advance women's rights. Burkett clearly feels a stake in women's advancement and I respect that and the hard work she channeled into gaining gender equality years before I was born. On the other hand, though, if the feminists of a generation ago had not actively excluded transgender women, we wouldn't have to make as much of a ruckus today.</p>
<p>Throughout Burkett's life, trans women have lived largely on the margins of society (or in the closet) without rights or protections. Rather than see us as equals, many feminists of her generation insisted, as Burkett does still, on insulting and repudiating us. Our bodies are different, and, against our wills, so were our childhoods. From her perch, Burkett appoints herself to critique our appearance, language ,and experience apparently without a lot of input from transgender people themselves.</p>
<p>Burkett writes that she wants to "rally behind the movement for transgender rights" and I believe her. Most people who believe in equality now do. For the communities who've been historically closest to them, <a href="(http://www.pqmonthly.com/historical-oppression-transgender-people-within-lgbtq-movement/20426" target="_blank">meaning the LGBTQ</a>&nbsp;and <a href="http://www.pqmonthly.com/cis-woman-space-history-anti-trans-discrimination/21879" target="_blank">women's&nbsp;movements</a>, supporting transgender rights today can mean having to face the ways they've excluded trans people and refused to see us as who we really are.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Supporting trans women means seeing them as equal to all other women. When you do this, then Caitlyn Jenner's self-expression is as valid as any other woman's. It means every trans woman's body is a woman's body and any definition of woman inherently includes trans women. If this is what Burkett means when she writes the trans movement is "demanding that women reconceptualize ourselves," then I suppose she's correct. It will be nice when people no longer see it as a "demand," though, and when people no longer ask, "What makes a woman?" and assuming the answer excludes transgender women.&nbsp;</p>
<p><em>Related Reading: <a href="http://bitchmagazine.org/post/the-long-history-of-transgender-exclusion-from-feminism" target="_blank">It's Time to End the Long History of Feminism Failing Transgender Women</a></em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://twitter.com/@leelaginelle" target="_blank">Leela Ginelle</a>&nbsp;is a trans woman playwright and journalist whose work appears in PQ Monthly, Bitch, and the Advocate.&nbsp;</em></p>
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http://bitchmagazine.org/post/trans-women-are-women-why-do-we-have-to-keep-saying-this#commentsLGBTQtransgenderSocial CommentaryTue, 09 Jun 2015 23:54:30 +0000Leela Ginelle32019 at http://bitchmagazine.orgDouchebag Decree: Mike Huckabeehttp://bitchmagazine.org/post/douchebag-decree-mike-huckabee
<p style="padding-left: 90px;"><img src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3802/9718381561_d9fbe638a8.jpg" alt="douchebag decree" width="494" height="199" /></p>
<p><img src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5067/5844344436_8e57bc9ab0_b.jpg" alt="mike huckabee" width="670" height="430" /></p>
<p>Dehumanizing rhetoric is often used to harm transgender people. While most of the media attention around <a href="http://bitchmagazine.org/post/as-jenner%E2%80%99s-story-breaks-the-internet-trans-women-of-color-discuss-their-own-narratives" target="_blank">Caitlyn Jenner’s striking <em>Vanity Fair</em> cover</a>&nbsp;has been positive, the major moment for trans visibility has also shown how far some people still need to come. Several celebrities, including <a href="http://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/celebs/news/a41490/snoop-dogg-caitlyn-jenner-science-project/" target="_blank">Snoop Dogg</a> and J.R. Smith, have proven how ignorant many people still are about what it means to be transgender, with both men posting a meme that referred to Jenner as a “science project.”</p>
<p>These responses are expected. Transphobia is engrained within us from childhood, and disavowing from those ideas takes work that many are unwilling to undertake. Yet, none of those responses are as harmful as the comments by <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/02/politics/mike-huckabee-transgender-caitlyn-jenner/" target="_blank">presidential hopeful and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee</a>&nbsp;that become nationally known after a video of him went viral this week. During the National Religious Broadcasters Convention in February, Huckabee said that if he “could have felt like a woman,” he would’ve used his identity to peer in on female classmates. He said:</p>
<blockquote><p>"Now I wish that someone told me that when I was in high school that I could have felt like a woman when it came time to take showers in PE, I'm pretty sure that I would have found my feminine side and said, 'Coach, I think I'd rather shower with the girls today.' You're laughing because it sounds so ridiculous doesn't it?”&nbsp;</p>
</blockquote>
<p>You sound ridiculous, Huckabee. He’s implying that being transgender is a choice and is only reifying the idea that transgender people are predators who are using their identities to prey on cisgender women. This idea is absurd, but it has a real-life impact: People have used the exact same argument to fight against gender neutral bathrooms. Florida lawmakers, for instance, are attempting to pass an ordinance that would <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2015/02/09/3620887/florida-transgender-bathroom-discrimination/" target="_blank">criminalize transgender folks for using bathrooms that align with their gender identity</a>. The Single-Sex Public Facilities bill would punish any transgender individual who uses a bathroom that doesn’t align with the gender assigned to them at birth. Violating the bill could lead to a $1,000 fine and up to a year in prison., State Representative Frank Artiles proposed the legislation to reduce “the potential for crimes against individuals using those facilities, including, but not limited to, assault, battery, molestation, rape, voyeurism, and exhibitionism.” Like Huckabee, Artiles is using unfounded fears to propel legislation that could considerably alter the lives of transgender individuals in Florida.</p>
<p>As <a href="http://bitchmagazine.org/article/janet-mock-interview" target="_blank">writer and television host Janet Mock highlights</a> in her <em>New York Times</em> bestseller <em>Redefining Realness</em> when Huckabee and others use rhetoric like this, they contribute to the “systematic othering of trans women as modern-day freak shows, portrayals that validate and feed society’s dismissal of trans women as less than human.”&nbsp;</p>
<p>Legislators who use personal beliefs and ignorance to fuel their political agendas are dangerous. Mike Huckabee is dangerous. Frank Artiles is dangerous. When politicians who are in positions of power and are responsible for enacting laws are transphobic, it can be a matter of life or death for those who are transgender. Attitudes like Huckabee’s are the reason transgender women of color are being murdered in record numbers. The Anti-Violence Project found that transgender women make up <a href="http://avp.org/storage/documents/2013_ncavp_hvreport_final.pdf" target="_blank">67 percent</a>&nbsp;of all hate homicides committed against LGBTQ individuals. <a href="http://www.advocate.com/politics/transgender/2015/02/10/new-orleans-sees-fifth-trans-woman-color-murdered-us-2015" target="_blank">Five transgender women of color were killed</a>&nbsp;in the US in the first five weeks of 2015, and the violence is continuing to increase.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Mike Huckabee is a bigot. He’s an ignorant guy who prides himself on <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/health/2014/01/23/3199081/huckabee-women-libido/" target="_blank">attempting to intervene in the lives of women</a>.&nbsp;Yet, Huckabee’s comments are most dangerous because he’s a former elected official running for the highest position available. As the former governor of Arkansas, Huckabee was responsible for signing legislation that could have considerably impacted the lives of transgender people. Instead, he uses them as a punchline.&nbsp;</p>
<p><em>Related Reading: <a href="http://bitchmagazine.org/post/as-jenner%E2%80%99s-story-breaks-the-internet-trans-women-of-color-discuss-their-own-narratives" target="_blank">As Jenner's Story Breaks the Internet, Trans Women of Color Discuss Their Own Narratives</a></em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://twitter.com/evettedionne" target="_blank">Evette Dionne</a>&nbsp;is a race and culture writer whose work has been published at the&nbsp;</em>New York Times<em>, Clutch Magazine, The Root and a multitude of other digital and print publications. </em><em>Photo of Mike Huckabee by <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/22007612@N05/5844344436/" target="_blank">Gage Skidmore</a> via Creative Commons.</em></p>
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http://bitchmagazine.org/post/douchebag-decree-mike-huckabee#commentsmike huckabeepoliticstransgendertransphobiaDouchebag Decree Fri, 05 Jun 2015 20:20:52 +0000Evette Dionne31974 at http://bitchmagazine.orgTrans Women of Color are Changing the Face of Comedyhttp://bitchmagazine.org/post/brouhaha-twoc-comedy-storytelling
<p><img src="/sites/default/files/u2583/20150428211001-luna_and_lexi.jpg" alt="luna and lexi" width="670" height="442" /></p>
<p><em>Luna Merbruja and Lexi Adsit, co-hosts of the upcoming Brouhaha.</em></p>
<p>Ever been to a comedy show with a lineup of all Trans Women of Color? I’m going to answer this one for you; no, you haven’t. But this can change. As part of the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.queerculturalcenter.org/" target="_blank">18th Annual Nation Queer Arts Festival</a>&nbsp;in the San Francisco Bay Area,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/558556467580214/" target="_blank">Brouhaha: Trans Women of Color Comedy Storytelling</a>&nbsp;is the first entirely TWOC comedy show in the United States (and probably the whole world). After tireless fundraising and intensive comedy storytelling training workshops with the performers, Brouhaha will take the stage in front of 600 audience members at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center on Tuesday, June 9<sup>th</sup>&nbsp;at&nbsp;<a href="http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/1559624">7pm</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/1559632">9pm</a>.</p>
<p>I sat down with the three amazing organizers of Brouhaha. Luna Merbruja is a performance artist, poet, author of the memoir&nbsp;<em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Trauma-Queen-Lovemme-Coraz%C3%B3n/dp/0991900839" target="_blank">Trauma Queen</a>&nbsp;</em>(published in 2013 by&nbsp;<a href="https://publishbiyuti.org/">Biyuti Publishing</a>, a small independent publisher created by and for trans women of color); Lexi Adsit is a Bay Area native and community organizer; and Manish Vaidya is a snarky stand-up comic, founder and artistic director of <a href="http://www.peacockrebellion.org/" target="_blank">Peacock Rebellion</a>, a Bay Area group of queer and trans artists of color. We talked about everything from how they created the event, to difficulties with queer organizations, visibility and violence, and what to expect from this jam-packed night of stories that might break your bladder.&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>DEVYN MANIBO: How and when did Brouhaha first come to fruition?</strong></p>
<p><strong>MANISH VAIDYA:</strong>&nbsp;I had always wanted to be a stand-up comic and a lot of stand-up comedy was like 10 different types of fuckery: fatphobia, transphobia, you know just “check, check, check.” So, of course, I ran into someone I really liked—a queer woman of color and political stand-up comic at a POC meditation night at my meditation center—and it was&nbsp;<a href="http://miciamosely.com/" target="_blank">Micia Mosely</a>.&nbsp;I was like “Hey Micia, will you do this thing?” And meanwhile, my friend&nbsp;<a href="http://www.blackgirldangerous.org/2013/01/2013116standing-up-to-stand-up-comedy-a-short-memoir-on-oppression-elitism-rape-culture-and-social-hierarchy/" target="_blank">Jezebel Delilah X wrote this article on Black Girl Dangerous</a>&nbsp;kind of like, “Hey, you know all this stand-up comedy even with queer and trans people of color is just hella fucked up.” So we tried this training program last spring. We got triple the number of applications we expected and [performed to] two really packed houses at the National Queer Arts Festival. So that was the beginner level training and we did an intermediate level training in the fall in Oakland. I think QTPOC groups don’t do a great job of actually supporting trans women of color, there’s maybe one token trans woman of color in a show.</p>
<p><strong>LEXI ADSIT:&nbsp;</strong>Yeah, it came together really quickly. We’re collaborating with&nbsp;<a href="http://www.cuav.org/" target="_blank">CUAV</a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://ellaparatranslatinas.yolasite.com/" target="_blank">El/La Para Trans Latinas</a>, <a href="http://www.tgijp.org/">The Transgender Gender Variant Intersex Justice Project</a>, and we have eight amazing trans women of color performers. They’re intergenerational, multicultural, some have done sex work, some have been incarcerated, some have been involved in community organizing, some haven’t. They’re all really really amazing, brilliant, and powerful.&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>How did y'all come to creating an entirely TWOC lineup? How did y'all realize, "yes, this is it, this is what we need to do?" And then how did you get it going?</strong></p>
<p><strong>LUNA MERBRUJA:</strong>&nbsp;Lexi and I have a list of things to do to have TWOC take over the world and a performance arts show was one of the items on that list. When Manish approached us about having an all-TWOC show, it was the perfect opportunity to actualize that dream. Manish—along with all the Core Members of Peacock Rebellion, Sabaa Zareena, Q Quintero, and volunteers—have been integral to making this show happen. Along with all the donors for our crowd fundraiser!&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>LEXI:</strong>&nbsp;The stars kind of aligned and Peacock was able to give us this really great opportunity to make some magic. But it wasn’t easy, there was a lot of behind-the-scenes work that was being done, especially on the curriculum, but also on the fundraising and production side. As we did more outreach about the show, we were really fortunate that the organizations and our collaborators were able to support us by sending us a couple different performers. So three of our performers are from collaborating organizations and the rest we reached out to through our personal networks. It was really a whirlwind at first and really stressful. But we had some great support and an amazing team behind it, including an accessibility coordinator, production manager, all these folks who are really committed and dedicated to making the show happen. Over 1,100 people on Facebook have responded, but even though we only have 625 seats, just that much support online is really amazing and it’s been really awesome seeing the community so excited about it.</p>
<p><img src="/sites/default/files/u2583/20150429180530-brouhaha_2015_logo.jpeg" alt="" width="650" height="650" /></p>
<p><strong>You talked about the process not being easy. What types of difficulties have you experienced in bringing this event to life?</strong></p>
<p><strong>LEXI:</strong>&nbsp;It’s definitely been hard. Peacock is not a huge nonprofit organization with millions of dollars in grants to pay everyone working on this full time. It’s telling of the type of work that gets funded, the communities who get funded. With Brouhaha, we reached our goal of $3000 [through an Indiegogo campaign] yesterday and all of these pieces which have fallen into place have been really helpful. But there was still a point where we need to have a separate plan in place. What would we do if this didn’t come through? What do we do if there’s another fire we have to put out? And it’s not easy producing and putting together this really amazing work which is so needed in this moment, that historically hasn’t been there, and historically hasn’t been given space to exist.</p>
<p><strong>LUNA:</strong>&nbsp;It was hard to find TWOC who felt confident to take to stage with comedic storytelling in the Bay Area, so recruitment was difficult. The other part was having the workshops hosted online, which meant walking many of the participants through downloading Google Hangouts and how to use it from their computers or phones. However, these hurdles of recruitment and online workshops ultimately brought together a crew of women who may not have accessed this kind of event because of lack of resources and support.</p>
<p><strong>MANISH :</strong>&nbsp;I think one of my fears is that some people are gonna see this as “what’s sexy right now,” or like this thing around [trans] celebrities. It’s like, how do we show up for each other in the day to day? Like what Lexi said, we don’t have an office, we don’t have staff, I’m not paying myself, but we are paying a ton of people, like forty people: the artists, who are TWOC, our Spanish language interpreters are TWOC, we’re paying TWOC to be active listeners to support TWOC during the show, any TWOC who might have something come up for them during the show. So there are all these different measures we’re taking. We’re hustling. We’re doing this on top of other jobs, and our lives, and if we’re talking about actually centering the voices and experiences of trans women of color, shit’s going on. I think it’s important talking about the strategic value of having cis people shut the fuck up and listen to TWOC for a change. It’s really not about the audience, it’s about TWOC getting on stage and their voices.</p>
<p><strong>LEXI:&nbsp;</strong>Half of our performers are new to performing in general, so it’s been stressful for them. It’s a new experience trying to figure out how to write and tell their stories—especially in a funny way. So, a part of our shift to really meet that is to say to not really worry about the audience, we’re just gonna worry about empowering these girls and this cohort and do whatever the fuck they want to do on stage, with some guidelines. We’re working with them intensely to get them prepared for that moment. This is more so about the group and giving them the space to talk about their experiences and their lives and raise up their voices in ways that haven’t happened before.</p>
<p><strong>As TWOC performers and storytellers, how or how have you not experienced being overlooked or unsupported by events or organizations who claim to be for and by queer/trans folks and queer/trans folks of color? How do you or do you not push through these hurdles? </strong></p>
<p><strong>LEXI:&nbsp;</strong>I think this is a moment of TWOC standing up and saying “guess what, this is what centering trans women of color really looks like” and a lot of organizations and communities in the Bay use terms like “QTPOC,” there are some organizations in the city claiming to serve trans women of color and are serving these communities, and for me, being part of some of those spaces and trying to navigate those spaces as a trans woman of color, there’s been a lot of violence enacted upon my body, and other trans women of color’s bodies. We really want to make space to talk about that, and showcase what it really does mean to center trans women of color, especially in this moment because we’re seeing a lot of trans women of color experience violence that can often lead to their death. And even then, community only celebrates them after they’re dead or if they’re a celebrity. It’s hard to hold because there’s so many of us who aren’t in that [demographic], and there’s still so many of us who are still living, still struggling, and still hustling. So we really want to celebrate those of us who are surviving and resilient.</p>
<p><strong>LUNA:</strong>&nbsp;Many QTPOC organizations don't have TWOC in leadership positions or may have one or two as tokens. It's an issue I used to vehemently call out on social media a few years back, specifically Bay Area QTPOC orgs that excluded trans women from their shows and leadership. Over the years, I've seen some orgs really take that to heart and shift their structure to support TWOC development and leaders, which is amazing and I'm grateful to see TWOC I don't personally know in shows. But to be honest, I still ask every QTPOC event or org if a TWOC is involved, and if they aren't, I don't show up for their event.</p>
<p><strong>LEXI:&nbsp;</strong>I will say, a lot of organizations who do get funding to serve the community are for extreme cases, like, if you’re living with HIV. And there’s been no other push to really get funding for the community out side of that, and I think it’s really exciting in this moment for Peacock to have committed itself to this work and helping us to make this happen because it’s really a community in the Bay that’s been needing this work for a long time, and we’re hoping it can be a healing and empowering and funny show.</p>
<p><strong>Could you talk a little bit about the training process and workshops and about the connections between stand up comedy, story telling, and identity, and the ways performers use comedy to talk about difficult subjects?</strong></p>
<p><strong>LUNA:</strong>&nbsp;The workshops have truly felt like a healing and support group space, rather than a work zone. I prompt discussions with a few questions and these women blow me away with their honest, vulnerable responses. I definitely think having an entire space that's exclusively TWOC-run has created this sisterhood that I have not experienced in any identity-specific organizing or working group before. It's beautiful and I am grateful every week to share space with these amazing performers.</p>
<p><strong>LEXI:&nbsp;</strong>So I’ve attended all of the workshops, and Luna is an amazing trainer and she does such a good job at holding people’s experiences. She’s just so brilliant. Our workshops are set up with a lot of sharing between the girls and each week we have a different subject to talk about. So one week we would talk about embarrassment, another week we would talk about sex and love, not just like intimate partner love, but love for our friends and family, pets, and then we would also write and share that. It’s really interesting because some of the girls talk about pretty intense stuff and I appreciate Luna for being able to hold that and help them be able to flesh out that writing experience. Other writings have been really light and fluffy. There’s this one about boys, all different types of boys, and it’s a really hilarious and great piece. What’s amazing about it is it starts so light and fluffy, then talks about issues with dating men, being a trans woman of color, things that this artist has gone through and has had to adapt through. It’s been an amazing experience to bear witness to all of that, there’s a lot of brilliance in that space. It would definitely be different if we weren’t all trans women of color.</p>
<p><strong>LUNA:</strong>&nbsp;When it comes to comedic story telling, it's really natural for the performers to share hilarious stories of heartache, dating woes, awkward gender moments, and resistance to the violences we face. I think using comedy is an exercise in critiquing or discussing violence without resorting to speech-like rhetoric that's divorced from our experiences. Comedy gives room for more emotional, personal stories that brings to life subjects that are difficult to talk about.</p>
<p><strong>Do you see Brouhaha manifesting in other sites and locations in the future? If so, how? Where? Yes, please.</strong></p>
<p><strong>LEXI:&nbsp;</strong>I would definitely like to see other iterations of Brouhaha happen, especially for trans women of color in different regions. That’s something I would absolutely fully support and hope for.</p>
<p><strong>MANISH:&nbsp;</strong>Secret’s revealed; I’m always hatching something. Peacock is expanding, and eventually our plan is to at least become a US network of QTPOC. For example,&nbsp;<a href="http://michacardenas.org/">Micha Cardenas</a>&nbsp;has just come on to our artistic core and is going to be running Peacock Games – preparing QTPOC for the apocalypse. She’s developing online games, and in person role-playing games. So there’s the all TWOC Brouhaha, this time it was storytelling, last year was stand-up comedy, and the plan is that this in a launch pad for both an independent section of Brouhaha completely run by TWOC, and also that TWOC are moving into leadership of Peacock across the board, and Micha’s part of that process. This can’t be just the token TWOC show, it’s about shifting the whole thing. This is honoring our lineage.&nbsp;<a href="http://mangoswithchili.com">Mangos with Chili</a>&nbsp;is shutting down over this next year, and so much of Mangos is integrated into Peacock. It’s really, what do the folks in the room want? How hard can we push? How soft can we push? How deeply can we hug?</p>
<p><strong>What kinds of stories and shenanigans can folks expect at Brouhaha?</strong></p>
<p><strong>LEXI:&nbsp;</strong>Oh my god, everything ever. It’s an endless show so we’re just gonna be talking on the microphone for the rest of time. Just kidding. It ranges from dating, to a love letter to the community, there’s early childhood stuff talking about gender nonconformity, there’s another piece about a cheating ex, so it’s really really broad, really diverse, they’re all really great, hilarious pieces.</p>
<p><strong>LUNA:</strong>&nbsp;People can expect lots of hilarious dating stories, some treachery, inspirational statements of solidarity, a siren luring souls, and a What The Fuck Is Going On investigation. I would suggest sitting close to the bathroom because you'll need to pee from laughing but won't want to miss too much of the show.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>All I’m saying is go. Laugh. Lift up and support the voices of trans women of color. And&nbsp;if you can, take a moment to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/brouhaha-trans-women-of-color-comedy-storytelling#/story">donate to Brouhaha's crowdfunding campaign</a>. They have reached their initial goal of $3000, but still need almost double that to make sure every performer and every person involved in making this show possible is compensated.</p>
<p><em>Devyn Manibo is &nbsp;Jersey City raised (and based) award-winning interdisciplinary/multigalactic artist. She can usually be found race raging, shade bending, and averting your settler colonialist gaze with a resting glare of displeasure.</em></p>
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http://bitchmagazine.org/post/brouhaha-twoc-comedy-storytelling#commentsLGBTQtransgenderComedyWed, 03 Jun 2015 19:21:39 +0000Devyn Manibo31942 at http://bitchmagazine.orgAs Jenner’s Story Breaks The Internet, Trans Women of Color Discuss Their Own Narrativeshttp://bitchmagazine.org/post/as-jenner%E2%80%99s-story-breaks-the-internet-trans-women-of-color-discuss-their-own-narratives
<p dir="ltr"><img src="/sites/default/files/u2583/screen_shot_2015-06-02_at_9.41.24_am.png" alt="" width="670" height="424" /></p>
<p dir="ltr">This week, Caitlyn Jenner debuted her new name and fabulous look on the <a href="http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2015/06/caitlyn-jenner-bruce-cover-annie-leibovitz" target="_blank">cover of <em>Vanity Fair</em></a>. After months of her <a href="http://bitchmagazine.org/post/im-hopeful-but-worried-about-media-coverage-of-bruce-jenners-gender" target="_blank">transgender coming-out process being tabloid fodder</a>, Jenner wrote on her first tweet, “I’m so happy after such a long struggle to be living my true self.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">Transgender actress and advocate Laverne Cox, who graced the cover of <em>Time </em>magazine this spring, summed up her thoughts on the media circus around Jenner’s transition <a href="http://lavernecox.tumblr.com/post/120503412651/on-may-29-2014-the-issue-of-timemagazine">in an eloquent Tumblr post</a>. First off, said Cox, congratulations. Or, in her words, “Yasss Gawd! Werk Caitlyn! Get it!” Secondly she said she hopes &nbsp;Jenner’s positive attention will translate into support for trans people who aren’t drop-dead gorgeous celebrities. &nbsp;“I have always been aware that I can never represent all trans people,” Cox wrote. “No one or two or three trans people can. This is why we need diverse media representations of trans folks to multiply trans narratives in the media and depict our beautiful diversities.”</p>
<p>As Jenner’s story became the top story online yesterday, I was thinking about a group of trans Latinas I interviewed recently in Jackson Heights, Queens. As trans issues become front-page topics, these trans women of color struggle to find their own narratives away from the lens of mainstream media. The realities of day-to-day life for trans people who don’t make it onto magazine covers is somewhat different. In Jackson Heights, a 20-minute train ride from Manhattan, 60 percent of the neighborhood is <a href="http://www.maketheroad.org/pix_reports/MRNY_Transgressive_Policing_Full_Report_10.23.12B.pdf" target="_blank">born outside of the United States</a>. Trans women in the community share experiences and hardships twice a month in a support meeting held at local LGBTQ center <a href="http://www.queenspridehouse.org/wordpress/" target="_blank">Queens Pride House</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The group is currently led by Pauline Park, a trans activist who is also the center’s program coordinator. “We don’t tell people to transition or not but rather support diverse gender identities,” said Park when I first met her last summer. I e-mailed Park this week to ask for her thoughts on the discussion around Jenner’s magazine cover.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“I think the <em>Vanity Fair</em> cover will do a great deal to enhance the visibility of the transgender community, but I hope that the mainstream media and the public don't make the mistake of taking Caitlyn's journey as typical of all gender transitions. In fact, it's highly unusual, given Jenner's wealth and celebrity,” writes Park. “There are as many ways of transitioning and being transgender as there are transgender people. No one person can possibly represent the full diversity of the transgender community.”</p>
<p dir="ltr"><img src="/sites/default/files/u2583/pauline_park_at_lcoa.jpg" alt="" width="670" height="508" /></p>
<p dir="ltr"><em>Pauline Park is the program coordinator at the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.queenspridehouse.org/wordpress/" target="_blank">Queens Pride House</a>. Photo courtesy of Park.&nbsp;</em></p>
<p dir="ltr">Transgender Latinas and Trans women of color juggle racial profiling, economic hardships, citizenship status, and fears of deportation on a daily basis. In an <a href="http://fusion.net/story/125983/what-trans-people-of-color-fear-after-bruce-jenner-media-circus/" target="_blank">April article for Fusion about Jenner’s high-profile interview</a> with Diane Sawyer, Kay Ulanday Barrett pointed to the discrepancies between Jenner’s experience and the experiences of trans women of color:</p>
<blockquote><p>“The current curiosity surrounding Jenner’s interview in the non-trans community creates a magical fantasy based on a very wealthy, able-bodied, American, and white experience that isn’t the case for many of us who struggle for survival and justice as transgender people of color.”</p></blockquote>
<p dir="ltr">In Jackson Heights, the trans support group has members from ages 18 to 60 and is as diverse as the neighborhood. Nikki de Leon, 28, attends the meetings—she’s called Jackson Heights home ever since she moved from Colombia with her mother and sister in the nineties. &nbsp;de Leon expressed ideas similar to Cox’s and Park’s about Jenner’s <em>Vanity Fair</em> cover: Hopefully Jenner’s story is starting important conversations, not overshadowing trans people whose journeys to their true identities look different. “Depending on each individual experience, there are trans people who feel like they need surgery to complete their transitions, while others don’t,” writes de Leon.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Through the support meetings, de Leon has met gender nonconforming people and transgender people who all had unique stories, backgrounds, and wounds. But they had one thing in common: the same need to find refuge in the group. “Trans workers who work at night have to deal with sexual assault,” de Leon told me when we met for coffee last summer. Transgender people <a href="http://bitchmagazine.org/post/three-important-statistics-to-read-on-transgender-day-of-remembrance" target="_blank">face much higher rates of harassment and assault</a>&nbsp;than cisgender people and transgender people of color are especially at risk of violence. For many trans people, reporting assaults through the justice system isn’t an option: While many undocumented immigrants leave their homes daily with the fear of deportation, for a trans person, deportation can already mean a death sentence in their home countries. When de Leon herself was assaulted one night walking home from work, she didn’t report it. “I had heard stories in the neighborhood saying that if you are trans or Latina, cops just won’t help, and they will deport you,” said de Leon. Regarding Jenner’s cover this week, de Leon summed up her thoughts, “Ms. Caitlyn Jenner could be a role model to me if she advocated for other, different trans people. But you can’t judge her for wanting to get her story out and showing a part of herself.”&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr"><img src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8527/8603714005_36c4ce31b4_b.jpg" alt="" width="670" height="360" /></p>
<p dir="ltr"><em>A sign at a 2013 protest for Transgender Equality in Washington, DC. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/taedc/8603714005/in/photolist-e7hhqD-7h4zDD-e7hipR-NHLdq-mEwTCq-q57aGY-8q94PM-e7nVzj-ndU2MK-6B1Ffb-rJP6xc-e7nWHU-5tf2gA-e7nVXJ-dvcDVd-7mTVrd-5otHqH-gdKmK-4xfLxD-nDmSCD-rsmW3x-nb7xLz-o4o72q-rqzjcP-rsdN5y-aBj7NW-7cARDf-78b16d-5ELJFo-5bWgco-8TNgHF-icYznx-sTy3er-regVdu-s5NwzK-rCG8Af-qVBa4W-rxDySi-qgEiNw-rbhMhB-qxXh7P-qG67GS-qhQD8u-pQspnd-48uWw1-oV53Wc-pQp9vz-pwSY85-paQGp3-p8ZJga" target="_blank">Photo by Ted Eytan.</a></em></p>
<p dir="ltr">Through the support group, de Leon got a referral for counseling and was able to get a prescription for hormone treatment. &nbsp;These days, she has a steady day job and is out as trans to her family. She’s doing great. But she knows she’s luckier than some of the trans people she’s met in Jackson Heights: She’s a US citizen and speaks English very well. “I have a regular day job in sales, but some trans Latinas speak only Spanish and can’t find jobs,” she said. &nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr">As mainstream media begins to give more visibility to trans people, thinking outside of the binary is important for all of us. “Society has a gender-identity disorder,” says Park, who still sees how trans people get pathologized on a daily basis for not identifying with one rigid gender, or not matching their gender “category.” “I’ve done hundreds of gender sensitivity trainings and always have to specify that trans people are not just people who change their bodies, as the mainstream believes, they are here to talk about gender,” says Park. Let’s hope that women like Jenner help get more people talking.</p>
<p><em>Related Reading: <a href="http://bitchmagazine.org/post/believe-me%E2%80%94my-daughter-is-transgender" target="_blank">When I Say My Daughter is Transgender, Believe Me</a></em></p>
<p><em>Carolina Drake teaches Spanish to kids in NYC and writes non-fiction essays. She contributes to AlJazeera, Jezebel, Hyperallergic, and ANIMAL NY. She tweets<a href="https://twitter.com/@CarolinaADrake"> @CarolinaADrake</a>.</em></p>
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http://bitchmagazine.org/post/as-jenner%E2%80%99s-story-breaks-the-internet-trans-women-of-color-discuss-their-own-narratives#commentslaverne coxLGBTQtransgenderTeam QueerTue, 02 Jun 2015 21:38:50 +0000Carolina Drake31939 at http://bitchmagazine.orgTrans Kids Don't Have to be Boys or Girls—Don't Force Them to Behttp://bitchmagazine.org/post/trans-kids-dont-have-to-be-boys-or-girls%E2%80%94dont-force-them-to-be
<p><img src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2632/3936235776_8d852b31f2_b.jpg" alt="colored pencils" width="670" height="420" /></p>
<p style="padding-left: 150px;"><em>Like color, gender is a spectrum. Photo by <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/twoacresphotography/3936235776/sizes/l" target="_blank">Two Acres Photography</a>.</em></p>
<p>Conversion therapy is the dangerous, discredited practice of using "moral" or religious arguments to discourage LGBTQ people's gender or sexual identities. While just a few decades ago, often-brutal conversion therapy was standard treatment for LGBTQ people, opponents of the tactic have recently won several great victories.&nbsp;</p>
<p>This month, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/19/oregon-gay-conversion-therapy-ban_n_7337350.html">Oregon joined two other states</a>—California and New Jersey—that have outlawed conversion therapy. Likewise, this spring, <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/theoval/2015/04/09/obama-conversion-therapy-white-house-petition-leelah-alcorn/25505091/" target="_blank">President Obama called for an end to such measures</a>, and House Democrats have <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/may/18/gay-conversation-therapy-ban-introduced-in-house/" target="_blank">introduced a bill to ban the “treatment.”&nbsp;</a></p>
<p>With such progress, a conservative backlash was inevitable. It arrived last week in a pernicious <em>LA Times</em> Op-Ed, co-authored by the controversial Northwestern professor J. Michael Bailey. The editorial is titled <a href="http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-vilain-transgender-parents-20150521-story.html" target="_blank">"What Should You Do if Your Son Says He's a Girl?"</a>&nbsp;and it promotes terrifyingly transmisogynist messages in the guise of friendly moderation.&nbsp;</p>
<p>To someone who respected trans peoples' identities, the answer to the authors' question would likely be, "Um, listen to them?" That's not how Bailey and co-author Eric Vilain view things, though. They write:</p>
<blockquote><p>"It seems you have two choices. You could insist that he is a boy and try to put an end to behaviors such as cross-dressing and saying that he is a girl. The alternative is to let him be a girl."</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Bailey and Vilain insist they have no "moral" objection to trans femininity and say they oppose conversion therapy when applies it to sexual orientation. Instead, they claim to worry about the "serious medical interventions" faced by trans women in their adult lives and see conversion therapy as a way to spare male-assigned people with gender dysphoria the risks they involve. &nbsp;</p>
<p>The authors pose conversion therapy, or as they refer to it, "adjustment," for this population, as harmless and effective. While conceding that it causes "psychological pain," they argue it yield satisfactory results for the adult men who emerge.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Such claims, though, are ludicrous. Conversion therapy leapt into the national spotlight last December after the <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2014/12/31/leelah_alcorn_transgender_teen_from_ohio_should_be_honored_in_death.html" target="_blank">tragic suicide of Leelah Alcorn</a>, a trans teen whose wrenching suicide note detailed the anguish she suffered under conversion therapy.&nbsp;How could Bailey and Vilain pretend such outcomes don't result from this approach?&nbsp;</p>
<p>Well, to hear them say it, they're not to sure of anything. To their minds, affirming male-assigned children in their true identities or coercing them into binary masculinity seem like equally good bets. "We don't know yet whether it's better to encourage adjustment or persistence," they say, before going on to scold President Obama for ignoring what they consider "the lack of clarity in this debate" and promoting "ideology over science."</p>
<p>The ideology they're forwarding, though, is transmisogyny. If they don’t consider anything wrong with male-assigned people expressing femininity, would there be a need to be “adjusted” at all?&nbsp;</p>
<p>The authors themselves argue that not all children who display gender variance identify as transgender in adulthood. Since that's case, wouldn't allowing male-assigned children who exhibit gender fluidity or non-conformity the space to express themselves—as affirming parents do today—be the best course?</p>
<p>Not according to Bailey and Vilain. To their minds, gender non-conforming kids should either become girls today or act like a man—and it's the adult's choice not the child's. The two can't seem to register that children's gender identities belong to them and not to the outdated binary norms they write about.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Bailey is a notorious figure in trans activist circles because of his 2003 book, <em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Who_Would_Be_Queen" target="_blank">The Man Who Would Be Queen: The Science of Gender-Bending and Transsexualism</a></em>. Drawing on a theory by the equally controversial academic Ray Blanchard, Bailey argued in his work that there "are two, completely different subtypes" of trans women. &nbsp;He defines the categories <a href="http://faculty.wcas.northwestern.edu/JMichael-Bailey/controversy.htm" target="_blank">on his faculty website</a> thusly: The first type, which Blanchard calls "homosexual transsexuals" are attracted to men. They are very feminine from an early age. The second type, which Blanchard calls "autogynephilic transsexuals," are attracted to the idea of being women.</p>
<p>Trans women and their allies were incensed at the cis-male Bailey's sense of entitlement in purporting to catalogue and pathologize trans women in this manner. <em><a href="http://www.juliaserano.com/whippinggirl.html" target="_blank">Whipping Girl</a></em> author Julia Serano, in particular, has written at length <a href="http://www.juliaserano.com/TSetiology.html" target="_blank">debunking this idea</a>.</p>
<p>In her paper&nbsp;<a href="http://www.juliaserano.com/av/Serano-TransInvalidations.pdf" target="_blank">"Psychology, Sexualization and Trans-Invalidations"</a>&nbsp;Serano addresses Bailey's book directly, saying "activists, allies and advocates" had found it "unapologetically stigmatizing, sexualizing and a distortion of both trans people's lives and the scientific literature on the subject." Given the <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3170124/" target="_blank">firestorm that arose around Bailey on this topic when his book appeared</a>, it might seem odd that the <em>LA Times</em> would offer him space to speak on trans topics in their paper.</p>
<p>In describing those he deems "autogynephilic transsexuals," Bailey writes, "they are not notably feminine until they decide to transition to women." It's a conclusion that betrays his blindness to the transmisogynist bias he continues to promote.&nbsp;</p>
<p>As a lesbian trans woman, Bailey would likely describe me as "autogynephilic." And it's true that as a child and young adult I did not appear "notably feminine." But that's only because my femininity—that core part of my identity—was drummed out of me by my family, my school and my culture. I was surrounded by a culture that reflexively abhorred any expression of femininity in male-assigned people. My femininity did not reappear until I had the courage to risk everything in my life to transition.</p>
<p>It cheers me to see our society make space for trans feminine expression in young people today and saddens me that "professional experts" like Bailey and Vilain still seek to limit such spaces with outmoded prejudices and practices.</p>
<p>Trans and gender non-conforming children don't need conversion therapists attempting to bend them into binary norms. That path often leads to despair and even death. Instead, they need brave adults who are willing to affirm them and expose transphobic prejudices for the bigoted beliefs they are.</p>
<p><em>Related Reading: <a href="http://bitchmagazine.org/post/even-a-stuffed-bear-gets-more-respect-than-trans-people" target="_blank">In Hollywood, Even a Stuffed Bear Gets More Respect than Trans People.</a>&nbsp;</em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://twitter.com/@leelaginelle" target="_blank">Leela Ginelle</a>&nbsp;is a trans woman playwright and journalist whose work appears in PQ Monthly, Bitch, and the Advocate.&nbsp;</em></p>
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http://bitchmagazine.org/post/trans-kids-dont-have-to-be-boys-or-girls%E2%80%94dont-force-them-to-be#commentsLGBTQtransgenderMediaThu, 28 May 2015 17:10:05 +0000Leela Ginelle31864 at http://bitchmagazine.orgIn the World's Most Lethal Country for Trans People, a Brutal Beating Sparks Protesthttp://bitchmagazine.org/post/in-the-worlds-most-dangerous-country-for-trans-people-a-brutal-beating-sparks-protest
<p><img src="/sites/default/files/u2583/todossomosveronica.jpg" alt="todos somos veronica" width="670" height="452" /></p>
<p><em>Art in support of Brazilian trans woman Veronica Bolina by Amora Ribeiro — via <a href="https://www.facebook.com/somostodasveronica" target="_blank">Somos Todas Veronica</a>.</em></p>
<p>In Brazil, the case of a trans woman brutally beaten in jail has sparked a major conversation about police brutality and violence against trans people.</p>
<p>Veronica Bolina, a 25-year-old Brazilian trans woman from San Paolo, was arrested on April 12th. When she posted photos of her face on her Instagram a few days later, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/22/americas/brazil-jail-transgender-beating/" target="_blank">officials were so alarmed that they opened an investigation</a> into what happened to her in jail. The photos show Bolina with a swollen face, partially naked and surrounded by male officers, with her hands cuffed behind her back. She says police brutally beat her, stripped off her clothes, and shaved her head.</p>
<p>"Those photos were shocking because of the violence, and [because] the police didn’t respect her gender identity,” Bolinas’s friend <a href="http://fusion.net/story/122413/photo-of-trans-woman-beaten-by-police-goes-viral-in-brazil/" target="_blank">Alessandro Ramos told reporters.</a>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The photos sparked national outrage and inspired the social media campaign <a href="http://fusion.net/story/122413/photo-of-trans-woman-beaten-by-police-goes-viral-in-brazil/" target="_blank">#SomosTodasVeronica</a>, or "We are All Veronica," which exposes the pervasive dangers facing Brazil's trans woman community. Transgender people face high rates of violence around the world, but Brazil is especially dangerous: More trans people are murdered there than in any other country, according to advocacy group <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2015/04/brazil-targeting-trans-people-impunity-150413210248222.html" target="_blank">Transgender Europe</a>.</p>
<p>The Brazilian <a href="https://homofobiamata.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/relatc3b3rio-ing-2014.pdf" target="_blank">Grupo Gay de Bahia</a> reports that 113 trans people were killed in the country last year—a number almost certainly lower than the reality since the country has no legal protections for LGBT individuals and anti-trans hate crimes are not prosecuted as such. In perhaps the most shocking piece of data surrounding this topic, the Rio-based trans group <a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&amp;sl=pt&amp;u=http://grupotransrevolucao.blogspot.com/2015/01/transrevolucao-convoca-ato-pelo-dia.html&amp;prev=search" target="_blank">Transrevolucao estimates the life expectancy</a> for a Brazilian trans person to be 30, less than half that of the general population with a life expectancy of 75.</p>
<p>The hostility toward Brazil's trans community stems in part from an era of military repression, which followed a coup in 1964. The ensuing dictatorship, which reigned until 1985, painted trans people as deviants and threats to "Brazilian family morals," according to <a href="http://www.transrespect-transphobia.org/uploads/downloads/Publications/TvT_research-report.pdf" target="_blank">Transgender Europe's report on the topic</a>. Trans people became largely excluded from civic life during this time and the term "travesti" (which generally describes a Brazilian trans woman) went from being associated with popular trans theater performers to bearing connotations of the criminal underclass. Trans people were hunted down regularly during this period by military police and vigilante groups.&nbsp;</p>
<p><img src="/sites/default/files/u2583/veronicamural.jpg" alt="a mural of veronica" width="330" height="500" /><img src="/sites/default/files/u2583/veronicamurall_2.jpg" alt="veronica mural" width="325" height="500" /></p>
<p><em>Artist <a href="https://www.facebook.com/blanca.avilacitra" target="_blank">Bianca Avila Citra</a> painted a mural in support of Veronica — photos via <a href="https://www.facebook.com/somostodasveronica" target="_blank">Somos Todas Veronica</a>.</em></p>
<p>Those attitudes and patterns persist, according to the nonprofit group Global Rights: Partners for Justice, who paint a chilling picture in their <a href="http://www.globalrights.org/sites/default/files/docs/Report_on_Situation_of_Afro-Bazilian_Trans_Women.pdf" target="_blank">"Report on the Human Rights Situation of Afro-Brazilian Trans Women."</a> The report documents a world where police arrest, humiliate, and even murder trans women with impunity, saying "extrajudicial killings" of this kind occur "in response to a trans person reporting a murder committed by police officers, and/or when police do not wish to pay for sexual services provided to them by trans sex workers."</p>
<p>In Veronica Bolina’s case, police say she was masturbating in her cell and then attacked an officer who sought to stop her, biting off his ear, which justified them to use force against her. The police released a tape of Bolina confessing to this course of events—but she says she was <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/22/americas/brazil-jail-transgender-beating/" target="_blank">coerced into making the statement</a>.</p>
<p>On the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/somostodasveronica" target="_blank">#SomosTodasVeronica Facebook page</a>, with more than 19,000 likes, users share art inspired by Bolina, herself a glamorous Instagram enthusiast, as a way of both supporting her and expressing their pain and rage over the treatment of trans women in Brazil.&nbsp;While her story has been a national issue in Brazil, little has been heard from Bolina in the English-speaking media. Officials claimed she would be transferred to her own cell in a men's prison, an arrangement cruel both in the isolating of its subject and its willful misgendering of her, but which, all too often, is viewed as a positive solution.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Bolina's photos emerged against a bleak backdrop of police corruption and impunity, providing painful evidence of the terrible danger facing Brazil's trans community. The outcry and activism that occurred in response provide hope that something may change. For instance, Human Rights Minister Ideli Salvatti says President Dilma Rousseuff supports a <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2015/04/brazil-targeting-trans-people-impunity-150413210248222.htm" target="_blank">new LGBT rights bill</a>. But the bill has yet to come up for a vote because—some activists claim—politicians in the legislature lack the political will to vote for it.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Gay Brazilian Congressman Jean Wyllys posted to the #SomosTodasVeronica Facebook page, writing, "In Baixada Fluminese, the state where I was elected (Rio de Janeiro), the crimes of hatred motivated by transphobia kills a travestis or transexual each day… this is also what is happening to the living Verônica, who was tortured, humiliated and exposed by the Civil Police in São Paulo.” We can only hope Bolinas will heal from the abuse she's suffered and that her terrible ordeal will continue to bring attention to the injustice trans people face in Brazil.</p>
<p><em>Related Reading: <a href="http://bitchmagazine.org/post/when-politicians-fail-to-stand-up-for-the-t-in-lgbt-rights" target="_blank">When Politicians Fail to Stand Up for the T in LGBT.</a></em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://twitter.com/@leelaginelle" target="_blank">Leela Ginelle</a>&nbsp;is a trans woman playwright and journalist whose work appears in PQ Monthly, Bitch, and the Advocate. Top photo&nbsp;<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Kamala_Harris.jpg" target="_blank">via Creative Commons</a>.&nbsp;</em></p>
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http://bitchmagazine.org/post/in-the-worlds-most-dangerous-country-for-trans-people-a-brutal-beating-sparks-protest#commentsactivismpolice brutalitytrans issuestransgenderSocial CommentaryThu, 30 Apr 2015 19:50:45 +0000Leela Ginelle31527 at http://bitchmagazine.orgWhen Politicians Fail to Stand Up for the "T" in LGBT Rightshttp://bitchmagazine.org/post/when-politicians-fail-to-stand-up-for-the-t-in-lgbt-rights
<p><img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Kamala_Harris.jpg" alt="kamala harris" width="670" height="440" /></p>
<p><em>Kamala Harris is the most recent politician to support gay and lesbian rights—but not transgender issues.</em></p>
<p>Last month, California Attorney General Kamala Harris vaulted to into the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.salon.com/2015/03/26/kamala_harris_tries_to_block_kill_the_gays_initiative_it_is_utterly_reprehensible/" target="_blank">national spotlight with her opposition</a> to a proposed "Kill the Gays" initiative introduced in the state.&nbsp;In high-profile support of California’s many gay and lesbian residents, Harris petitioned the state's Superior Court to block the so-called "Suppress the Sodomite Act," an citizen initiative which seeks to legalize the execution of homosexuals, calling the act "utterly reprehensible.” She bemoaned the fact that she'll be forced to include it on the ballot, should the court not intervene.</p>
<p>Harris's principles and commitment to social justice have rightfully made her the frontrunner to replace retiring Democrat Barbara Boxer in the Senate. However, those ideas were nowhere in evidence last week when <a href="http://www.washingtonblade.com/2015/04/10/harris-appeals-order-granting-trans-inmate-gender-reassignment/" target="_blank">Harris appealed a U.S. District Judge's decision</a> to grant a gender confirming surgery (GCS) to Michelle-Lael Norsworthy, a transgender woman serving time in California prison.&nbsp;Ignoring all the findings in Justice Jon Tigar's 38 page decision, Harris argued that, "Norsworthy has been treated for gender dysphoria for over 20 years, and there is no indication that her condition has somehow worsened to the point where she must obtain sex-reassignment surgery now."</p>
<p>Her move to block funding for the surgery is another case of someone being excited to vocally support gay and lesbian causes when they make for good press—but when the rubber hits the road, neglecting to support the “T” part of LGBT rights. While it’s politically very easy to fight tooth-and-nail against legalizing the murder of California gay and lesbian residents, Harris would have been actually pushing public opinion<em> forward</em> if she backed the rights of a transgender woman in prison.</p>
<p>Norsworthy began her transition a few after entering prison in 1990, and first expressed a desire for GCS in 1996. In <a href="http://transgenderlawcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Norsworthy-Order-on-PI.pdf" target="_blank">his ruling</a>,&nbsp;Justice Tigar is stinging in his critique of the California Department of Corrections’ handling of the case. The judge notes that Norsworthy's attending psychologist, Dr. Reese, who had worked with the her for two years, unequivocally prescribed that the procedure be done, saying, "clinical medical necessity suggest and mandate a sex change medical operation before normal mental health can be achieved for this female patient." Transgender people in prison around the country have fought for—and won—the right to medically necessary surgery.</p>
<p>Instead of going with the doctor’s recommended care, though, the corrections department removed Norsworthy from Reese's patient roster, and matched her with a doctor who advised against operation. This action, along with other evidence, led Justice Tigar to find that California prisons have “a blanket policy against providing SRS (sex reassignment surgery) for transgender inmates."</p>
<p>Justice Tigar ruled that having a policy violates is unconstitutional, violating the Eighth Amendment's protection against cruel and unusual punishment. &nbsp;Transgender people denied gender reassignment surgery suffer mental anguish and significantly higher rates of suicide. Justice Tigar wrote that the prison system denied her surgery "for administrative, rather than medical, reasons”—which isn’t acceptable.</p>
<p><img src="http://bitchmagazine.org/sites/default/files/u2583/prison_final.jpg" alt="prisons are a feminist issue graphic" width="670" height="350" /></p>
<p>But it seems Harris is following the Department of Corrections’ lead. Her office is fighting the decision. In the appeal, Harris’ office warned the procedure could cost up to $100,000, a ludicrously inflated sum, and one the Transgender Law Center disputes, pointing out, rightly, the figure would be closer to $15,000-30,000. The Transgender Law Center also notes that Harris's appeal will cost the state well above either sum before it's finished.</p>
<p>This chain of events sadly mirrors those that occurred in 2012, when the <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/09/is-denying-treatment-to-transsexual-inmates-cruel-and-unusual/262074/" target="_blank">first trans person in prison won a suit for a GCS</a>. Citing scientific evidence, and expert testimony, Federal District Judge Mark Wolf, found that the surgery was the "only form of adequate care for (Koselick's) condition."</p>
<p>The justice also found bad faith at play in the state's denial of care, accusing Massachusetts Corrections Commissioner Kathleen Dennehy of "engaging in a pattern of pretext, pretense and prevarication," and saying she'd "testified untruthfully on many matters," and acted out of a fear that providing Koselik with the surgery she required would "provoke public controversy, criticism, scorn and ridicule."&nbsp;Responding to the Koselik decision in a radio interview, <a href="http://jezebel.com/5941540/elizabeth-warren-opposes-sex-reassignment-surgery-for-transgendered-inmate" target="_blank">progressive star Elizabeth Warren opined</a>, "I have to say, I don't think it's a good use of taxpayers dollars.". Given that Warren is a former Harvard Law School professor, one must assume, disappointingly, she based her statement on perceived political gain, rather than legal principles.</p>
<p>Fellow Massachusetts politician—and the first out LGBTQ Congressperson—Barney Frank, also spoke against the ruling. Frank, who <a href="http://www.advocate.com/commentary/2014/10/01/op-ed-what-barney-frank-still-gets-wrong-enda" target="_blank">has a history of not championing trans rights</a>, echoed Warren in declaring Wolf's decision not a "good use of taxpayer dollars." He <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2012/10/01/938391/barney-frank-opposes-medical-treatment-for-trans-prisoners/" target="_blank">explicitly framed his opinion in political terms</a>, saying activists are "making a mistake if they think it's a general issue."</p>
<p>One would wish that progressive politicians who have benefited greatly from championing LGBT issues in an outspoken way, would take the lead on a vital issue like medical care for trans inmates, instead of upholding policies multiple judges have declared unconstitutional.</p>
<p>Thankfully, the Obama administration has become active in supporting trans people in prison, <a href="(http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2015/04/12/3646078/georgia-transgender-hormone-therapy/" target="_blank">intervening recently on behalf of Ashley Diamond</a> in her fight to attain adequate care from the Georgia Department of Corrections.&nbsp;Likewise, prominent LGBTQ entertainers, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/apr/14/silence-abuse-transgender-inmates--us-prisons-is-deafening" target="_blank">like Elton John and Michael Stipe</a> have begun lending their voices to this cause.</p>
<p>Supporting transgender people—particularly those in prison—is not an easy sell for many politicians. It's vital, though, and, as a growing body of legal decisions attests, a constitutional necessity. It's time for Democrats like Harris and Warren to start leading on this issue, instead of perpetuating old biases to score easy points, regardless of the human costs.</p>
<p><em>Related Reading: <a href="http://bitchmagazine.org/post/penned-in-letters-reveal-the-lives-of-transgender-women-in-prison" target="_blank">Penned In — Letters Reveal the Lives of Transgender Women in Prison</a></em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://twitter.com/@leelaginelle" target="_blank">Leela Ginelle</a>&nbsp;is a trans woman playwright and journalist whose work appears in PQ Monthly, Bitch, and the Advocate. Top photo <a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Kamala_Harris.jpg" target="_blank">via Creative Commons</a>.&nbsp;</em></p>
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http://bitchmagazine.org/post/when-politicians-fail-to-stand-up-for-the-t-in-lgbt-rights#commentsLGBTtrans issuestransgenderPoliticsFri, 17 Apr 2015 22:34:49 +0000Leela Ginelle31350 at http://bitchmagazine.orgFour Trans* Teens Talk About Fashionhttp://bitchmagazine.org/post/four-trans-teens-talk-about-fashion
<p class="FreeFormA"><img src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3538/3631069147_d250cfc4da_b.jpg" alt="four people wearing rainbow socks" width="670" height="440" /></p>
<p class="FreeFormA"><em>Rainbow socks and beat-up Converse are all the rage at Portland Pride Parade. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/iamkat/3631069147" target="_blank">Photo by Katrina Cole.</a></em>&nbsp;</p>
<p class="FreeFormA">I’ve noticed over my teaching career that kids possess a keen insight into the phenomenon of privilege. Curious about privileges I might take for granted, I asked four trans* teens I work with, ages 15-20, five questions about fashion. What I learned is that what we wear has a lot to say, not only about who we are, but about who we are expected to be. The way these kids express themselves through fashion challenges our culture’s common assumptions about gender identity. I should also mention that these kids are frustrated by those assumptions, which is why they asked me to identify them by just letters: W, X, Y and Z.</p>
<p class="FreeFormA"><strong>What do you wear to feel more like yourself?</strong></p>
<p class="FreeFormA">W: T-shirts, jeans, typically more of a baggy cut, though. It’s more safe. I can’t wear tight clothing anymore without being outed because even with a chest binder, you’re not getting very much flattened out. I still like dark, heavy eyeliner, but there’s this part of me that’s afraid to wear cosmetics now.</p>
<p class="FreeFormA">X: I’ve dressed as male since I was about ten. That’s when I cut my hair. Right now, I’m wearing guy’s pants, my brother’s sweater, a button up and a tie. I have both ears pierced. Nowadays that’s not a very genderized thing.</p>
<p class="FreeFormA">Y: Most of the time I just wear things that are considered more unisex so I'm able to feel more neutral, which is the way I identify. I try to wear bigger t-shirts or flannels or vests. But there are days when I want to wear a skirt and feel adorable. I don't wear a ton of makeup, mostly because I don't know how.&nbsp;</p>
<p class="FreeFormA">Z: For my first pair of shoes, I wanted the pink, glittery, feathery shoes. I like colors. Stilettos. I have a pretty elaborate collection of high heels. It’s almost like an art project for me. I recently pierced my ears. That was a big deal for me. I taught myself makeup. I wear breast forms. I always wanted boobs, I guess. I picked a size that was somewhere in the middle. I’ve grown my hair out ever since I came out.</p>
<p class="FreeFormA"><strong>What was it like for you before you had the ability to make these choices?</strong></p>
<p class="FreeFormA">W: I was, I guess you could say, blessed with my mother. She let me do my own thing. My father pushed me to be more feminine. He didn’t want me to be a lesbian. Shocker! I was not born a woman, I was born a boy in a girl’s body.</p>
<p class="FreeFormA">X: I felt very odd when my aunt tried to paint my nails. I’ve always seen it like, “Why aren’t you treating me like my brothers?” We grew up as boys together.</p>
<p class="FreeFormA">Y: I was always kind of a tomboy in elementary school. Out in public, I would get called a boy. Everyone knew me as a pretty masculine person. So by the time I was in eighth grade, I felt like I couldn't wear dresses, like it would be weird if I looked like a girl.</p>
<p class="FreeFormA">Z: I came out in 6th grade, when the guys were supposed to chase the girls and the girls were supposed to run away. I always wanted to be chased. That’s when puberty started to kick in and I realized something was wrong.</p>
<p class="FreeFormA"><strong>What keeps you from wearing what makes you feel comfortable?</strong></p>
<p class="FreeFormA">W: Because I’m just barely 5’ tall and 94 pounds people are always going to assume that I’m female. I have to wear preteen boy’s clothing, which limits me to childish choices. Anything that looks classy or dignified in my size is tailored for females. Female dress shirts will emphasize the bust and the skinny waist. That’s not something I want to emphasize. A lot of my problems could be eliminated if I could afford hormone treatments. If you have facial hair, then people will think you’re just a short guy.</p>
<p class="FreeFormA">X: Early on my family had a hard time, you know, seeing the change. Of course, they were expecting me to be this princess. So I felt more comfortable at school than at home. I was always ready to go to school. That was before I had a chance to talk to my mom about it. My mom has my back now.</p>
<p class="FreeFormA">Y: Mostly self. I had all this awful internalized misogyny. It's hard for me to embrace the feminine because for so long I suffered from the idea that something super feminine is bad: girls who wear makeup are dumb or girls who wear skirts all the time are weak. All this awful stuff. This school has allowed me to explore who I want to be and to embrace my feminine side.</p>
<p class="FreeFormA">Z: I don’t feel comfortable out of school. Some creep said something really nasty and gross and followed me off the public bus. All I could do was say, “Back off!” in a very powerful man voice.</p>
<p class="FreeFormA"><strong>What does all this say about gender roles in our culture?</strong></p>
<p class="FreeFormA">W: Uh! They’re such bullshit. You’re trying to put millions, billions of different types of people into two categories, men and women, and it doesn’t work. We judge people based so much on how they look, you feel unsafe leaving the house wearing something that doesn’t match your gender role. There needs to be a massive paradigm shift away from binary.</p>
<p class="FreeFormA">X: I think it’s changing, a more even playing field.</p>
<p class="FreeFormA">Y: I thought the only way I was going to be perceived as really strong was if I looked more masculine. Anything feminine was weak or unintelligent. Fashion is so closely tied to your worth. People think a woman wearing a blazer is going places, but if she wears a low cut top she’s not.</p>
<p class="FreeFormA">Z: When that creep followed me, I shouldn’t have had to make my voice deep to be respected.</p>
<p class="FreeFormA"><strong>If you could change one thing about fashion in America, what would it be?</strong></p>
<p class="BodyB">W: Media makes it difficult to function outside the norm as far as fashion goes. Media could put an emphasis on neutral clothing instead of having to objectify women constantly and making it hell to try and find a good dress shirt that doesn’t make your chest puff out like a damn peacock.</p>
<p class="BodyB">X: I’m not sure that I would change anything. The more binary fashion is, the easier it is for me to pass. The general public would say this person is wearing this so they are male. Just as an observation, though, in a rigid gender binary there isn’t that fashion middle ground for a person who is more fluid in their gender identity.</p>
<p class="BodyB">Y: People are okay with a girl superhero at Halloween, but when a boy wants the princess costume, people aren't okay with that. So I would change the idea that masculine is the only good thing and that anything feminine is lesser.</p>
<p class="BodyB">Z: I’d like people to be more accepting of men wearing feminine clothes and women wearing masculine clothes. I’d like to be somewhere in the middle, more feminine but still be accepting of the body I have. I’d like to live in that duality. I can’t do that at the moment.</p>
<p class="BodyB"><em>Related Reading: <a href="http://bitchmagazine.org/post/believe-me%E2%80%94my-daughter-is-transgender" target="_blank">When I Say My Daughter is Transgender, Believe Me</a>.&nbsp;</em></p>
<p class="BodyB"><em>Benjamin Dancer has made a career out of mentoring young people as they come of age. He wrote the novel&nbsp;<a href="http://amazon.com/dp/B00J49L77S" target="_blank">Patriarch Run</a>, and he also writes about education and parenting. Learn more at&nbsp;<a href="http://benjamindancer.com/" target="_blank">BenjaminDancer.com</a>.</em></p>
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http://bitchmagazine.org/post/four-trans-teens-talk-about-fashion#commentsfashiontransgenderTeam QueerWed, 31 Dec 2014 00:16:00 +0000Benjamin Dancer29835 at http://bitchmagazine.org